History Main / LevelGrinding

* Because ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' was [[NintendoHard really difficult]] from the get go, grinding was the only way to survive the first real mission. This is partially because the game had the [=PCs=] starting out as weaklings who got offed in the first battle, and partially because the leveling system was ''radically'' different from virtually any RPG today (except the ''VideoGame/{{SaGa}}'' series, which may have grown directly from ''FFII''); characters gained HP by being damaged, attack skills by attacking with certain weapons, etc. As a result of its odd system, ''FFII'' has a very unusual grinding method: having your party members beat each other up to get HP bonuses. The game also had an [[GameBreaker exploitable bug]] in which choosing to attack, canceling your selection, and repeating 100 times would register for leveling purposes as attacking 100 times and would level up the character's skill with the weapon in question. While some consider exploiting bugs to be cheating, the tedium of building up skill levels "honestly" causes most players to not care.

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* Because ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' was [[NintendoHard really difficult]] from the get go, grinding was the only way to survive the first real mission. This is partially because the game had the [=PCs=] starting out as weaklings who got offed in the first battle, and partially because the leveling system was ''radically'' different from virtually any RPG today (except the ''VideoGame/{{SaGa}}'' ''[[Franchise/SaGaRPG SaGa]]'' series, which may have grown directly from ''FFII''); characters gained HP by being damaged, attack skills by attacking with certain weapons, etc. As a result of its odd system, ''FFII'' has a very unusual grinding method: having your party members beat each other up to get HP bonuses. The game also had an [[GameBreaker exploitable bug]] in which choosing to attack, canceling your selection, and repeating 100 times would register for leveling purposes as attacking 100 times and would level up the character's skill with the weapon in question. While some consider exploiting bugs to be cheating, the tedium of building up skill levels "honestly" causes most players to not care.

* ''Fanfic/ForgedDestiny'', being an RPG Mechanicsverse, has everyone partake of this to one degree or another with boosting, a process wherein a higher level adventurer weakens a monster for a lower member to gain levels, exists but is looked down on by some. The amount of experience given varies based on the task with killing Grimm seeming to give more than any mundane activity. This means that members of the Labor Caste are almost always locked at a lower level than those of the Hero or Soldier Caste. Jaune, who had completed a very large amount of work under his Blacksmith father, was Level 12 at the start of the story, four levels higher than his old Labor Caste friends but still four levels ''lower'' than the average Beacon applicant.

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* ''Fanfic/ForgedDestiny'', being an RPG Mechanicsverse, RPGMechanicsverse, has everyone partake of this to one degree or another with boosting, a process wherein a higher level adventurer weakens a monster for a lower member to gain levels, exists but is looked down on by some. The amount of experience given varies based on the task with killing Grimm seeming to give more than any mundane activity. This means that members of the [[FantasticCasteSystem Labor Caste Caste]] are almost always locked at a lower level than those of the Hero or Soldier Caste. Jaune, who had completed a very large amount of work under his Blacksmith father, was Level 12 at the start of the story, four levels higher than his old Labor Caste friends but still four levels ''lower'' than the average Beacon applicant.

* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarNova'': For the most part you don't need to grind to complete the story. However, there are two exceptions: With four classes and the ability to switch at will, any class you want to level beyond the first (for cross class skills) is basically a grind. Additionally, patches have added new content to the game - new content that starts at level 110. You will have to grind to level 110.

* Best example of this come from {{MMORPG}}s originating from Korea, notorious for having an atrocious leveling pace. Prime examples are ''VideoGame/MapleStory'' and ''VideoGame/{{Lineage 2}}'', which has a leveling pace so bad and arduous that there are many private servers that give players ''thirty-two times'' as much experience, money, and loot as the official game yet still contain playtimes roughly equivalent to ''WorldOfWarcraft''. Add the fact that dying will result in XP loss that can de-level you quickly, even when another player kills you. Such games give rise to the euphemism ''Korean flavour'' MMORPG, even when the game isn't from Korea. Examples include :

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* Best example of this come from {{MMORPG}}s originating from Korea, notorious for having an atrocious leveling pace. Prime examples are ''VideoGame/MapleStory'' and ''VideoGame/{{Lineage 2}}'', which has a leveling pace so bad and arduous that there are many private servers that give players ''thirty-two times'' as much experience, money, and loot as the official game yet still contain playtimes roughly equivalent to ''WorldOfWarcraft''.''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. Add the fact that dying will result in XP loss that can de-level you quickly, even when another player kills you. Such games give rise to the euphemism ''Korean flavour'' MMORPG, even when the game isn't from Korea. Examples include :

* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', the boys get sick of being killed over and over by a griefer on ''WorldOfWarcraft.'' So they kill boars for a few weeks straight to level up enough to at least be a match for him. It's worth noting that this strategy is impossible in the actual game, as monsters stop giving experience points entirely once the gap between the player's and monster's levels reach a certain point.

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* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', the boys get sick of being killed over and over by a griefer on ''WorldOfWarcraft.''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft.'' So they kill boars for a few weeks straight to level up enough to at least be a match for him. It's worth noting that this strategy is impossible in the actual game, as monsters stop giving experience points entirely once the gap between the player's and monster's levels reach a certain point.

[[folder:Fan Works]]*''Fanfic/ForgedDestiny'', being an RPG Mechanicsverse, has everyone partake of this to one degree or another with boosting, a process wherein a higher level adventurer weakens a monster for a lower member to gain levels, exists but is looked down on by some. The amount of experience given varies based on the task with killing Grimm seeming to give more than any mundane activity. This means that members of the Labor Caste are almost always locked at a lower level than those of the Hero or Soldier Caste. Jaune, who had completed a very large amount of work under his Blacksmith father, was Level 12 at the start of the story, four levels higher than his old Labor Caste friends but still four levels ''lower'' than the average Beacon applicant.[[/folder]]

* ''{{Willow}}'' for the NES requires you to be at least level 13 to uncurse Fin Raziel so she can upgrade your wand into the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Wand of Plot Advancement]].

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* ''{{Willow}}'' ''VideoGame/{{Willow}}'' for the NES requires you to be at least level 13 to uncurse Fin Raziel so she can upgrade your wand into the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Wand of Plot Advancement]].

* Any E-4 in the Army will tell you how this trope fits correspondence courses. You might only get one promotion point for every five hours of classes, but it maxes out at 78 points or roughly 390 hours of classes. And trust us, when you need 798 points just to get promoted, every point counts.

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** Getting that M.D., J.D., or PhD in many countries starts by excelling in high school or even earlier. And if you see someone who has letters after that, they probably spent a few years getting those, too.* Any E-4 in the US Army will tell you how this trope fits correspondence courses. You might only get one promotion point for every five hours of classes, but it maxes out at 78 points or roughly 390 hours of classes. And trust us, when you need 798 points just to get promoted, every point counts.counts.** It's also an OpenSecret that most Joes TakeAThirdOption and acknowledge that since it's NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught, just grab the answers to the end-of-module tests and go from there.

* GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas lets you level up several skills, such as sprinting, biking, and individual weapons, by repeatedly using them. Maxing them out offers various benefits, such as [[GunsAkimbo dual-wielding pistols and SMGs]].

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* GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' lets you level up several skills, such as sprinting, biking, and individual weapons, by repeatedly using them. Maxing them out offers various benefits, such as [[GunsAkimbo dual-wielding pistols and SMGs]].

* ''Anime/DogDays'' takes this to its logical conclusion, with [[FriendlyWar entire wars]] being fought for the purpose of army-wide grinding sessions to prepare for the occaisonal demon attack ([[WarForFunAndProfit with the bonus of them being an excellent source of revenue and entertainment for the countries involved]]).

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